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Honda's sixth-generation CR-V offers a simplified lineup featuring two well-appointed hybrid variants equipped with a new fourth-generation gasoline-electric powertrain. For the first time, front-wheel drive is offered on a CR-V hybrid variant, called the Sport, which slots in right above the base model, the gas-only CR-V EX.

Honda expects half of all CR-V buyers to opt for a hybrid model.

The new hybrid system features a refined 2.0-liter Atkinson cycle four-cylinder engine paired with two larger, more powerful electric motors mounted side-by-side instead of in-line with the engine crankshaft.

The engine combines high-pressure direct injection with multistage injection for cleaner combustion — a first of its kind for Honda's 2.0-liter engine in North America. It can be decoupled from the hybrid powertrain and will only operate as needed depending on the battery's charge level.

The new arrangement adds responsiveness f…

A plane crashed into a Buick-GMC dealership in southeast Ohio early Tuesday, police said.

The 1974 Beechcraft King Air E90 crashed into Pioneer Buick-GMC's parking lot in Marietta, Ohio, around 7:15 a.m. local time, a press release from the Ohio State Highway Patrol said.

The pilot and a second occupant were killed in the crash. No injuries were reported on the ground.

There was significant damage to multiple vehicles and the dealership building.

Rod Taylor, general manager of Pioneer Buick-GMC, said the plane had come from Columbus, Ohio, and was flying to nearby Parkersburg, W.Va.

He said 12 to 15 vehicles had been lost in the crash, mainly due to burning fuel. The dealership building was "scorched," but Taylor said it was nothing that couldn't be cleaned off.

"Fortunately, the fire trucks got here fast enough, and there wasn't any real damage to the building," Taylor told Automotive News. "Nothing that a power washer or some paint…

WHAT'S INSIDE?

We are in year two of the great supply chain crisis, and the impacts are evident. Lost production, constrained inventory, and high-profit margins contribute to historically low customer loyalty scores.

Here are three important data signals that dealerships should follow as the industry recovers.

Consumer loyalty scores to make, model, and segment Current vehicle migration patterns and the implications for EV surge Retail investment shifts—how auto marketers are responding

The state of Michigan is asking a court to deny Carvana Co.'s bid to prevent state regulators from suspending its operating license, saying the online used-vehicle retailer is unlikely to prevail in its case.

In a filing Monday in the Michigan Court of Claims, lawyers for the Michigan Department of State and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson argued that the state was authorized when it suspended Carvana's license Oct. 7, citing titling and registration issues. Carvana filed a lawsuit Oct. 13 against Benson, seeking a temporary restraining order to block the state from suspending or revoking Carvana's license.

The suspension is not a final decision, according to the state's filing. Carvana, the filing said, will have an opportunity to show that it is complying with state law at a preliminary conference set for Thursday and, if needed, at an administrative hearing in November to determine whether the company's license should be revoked.

That Carvana "is e…

WASHINGTON — The National Automobile Dealers Association elected Gary Gilchrist as its next vice chairman, indicating he is likely to be the group's chairman in 2024.

Gilchrist, president of Gilchrist Chevrolet-Buick-GMC in Tacoma, Wash., was elected Tuesday to the 2023 post during the association's board meeting in Dallas.

Gilchrist, 69, started in the auto industry in 1977 selling cars in Tacoma after graduating from college. He represents Washington's new-car dealers on NADA's board of directors and is chairman of NADA’s dealership operation committee. He was NADA treasurer in 2021.

“I am very honored to be trusted with the responsibility to do things that matter for dealers,” Gilchrist said in a statement. “The auto industry has always changed with the times, and we can do it again. We’ve got to take a hard look at ourselves and find ways to adapt to new technology and new demands.” NADA's 65-member board of directors also elected William H. Will…

More than $300,000 is a big ask.

Let's assume for a minute that the new Cadillac Celestiq ultra luxury sedan launches flawlessly with zero technical or fit and finish issues, that it's perfect right out of the box.

That's not going to be good enough for the millionaire and billionaire clientele that Cadillac hopes to attract with the Celestiq, whose starting price is in the low 300s. That kind of technical excellence is expected.

The real challenge for Cadillac dealers and the designers who will work with the car's mega-rich customers is making the commissioning process an experience worthy of the car's lofty price tag.

No American automaker has any track record of doing that since at least the 1950s.

I don't know that today's Cadillac showrooms are where this kind of business can be conducted with the serene luxury ambiance required of such a major purchase. Cadillac officials are not yet revealing much about the purchase process, which i…

DETROIT — The Cadillac Celestiq, a sleek, futuristic-looking five-door electric sedan coming in just over a year, represents more than just a new ultraluxury offering from General Motors.

The Celestiq is the start of a new way of doing business for the luxury brand that harks back to an old rivalry — Cadillac vs. Rolls-Royce.

At the General Motors Technical Center in suburban Detroit last week, GM President Mark Reuss said Cadillac intends to build other bespoke ultraluxury cars after the Celestiq's production run ends.

"We've got to learn how to do cars like this for Cadillac," Reuss said, from the sidelines of a media preview for the production-intent Celestiq. "I don't know what the next one is, but we have to learn how to do a couple of these really iconic things for the brand right now."

Expanding the Cadillac brand into the rarefied air of the ultraluxury segment, occupied mostly by Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Mercedes-Benz, was part of the b…

U.S. inventories are at the highest point in more than a year. VinFast recalls a third of its sold EVs. It turns out dealers don’t hate all of the FTC’s proposed rules. Plus, a conversation about the benefits dealers are seeing from new retail technology and digital strategies.

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Stellantis may stop manufacturing cars in China as geopolitical tensions escalate and western manufacturers cede market share to domestic players.

The producer of Peugeot and Citroën cars may implement an “asset-light” strategy for those brands in the world’s largest auto market, CEO Carlos Tavares said Monday. Earlier this year, he used the same phrase to describe Stellantis’ decision to pull out from the company’s only Jeep plant in the country.

“If we push ahead with this strategy -- which is our strategy right now -- then we don’t need plants in China,” Tavares told reporters at the Paris auto show, adding that the company could instead import vehicles made in Europe or the US. “I am not sure they are indispensable.”

Stellantis is mulling the potential exit as more established foreign auto brands have struggled to maintain their position in China’s market, raising questions about their long-term future in the country.

Business for the likes of…

American Honda Motor Co. has tapped longtime associate Lance Woelfer to head up the Honda brand sales division amidst a robust product rollout and efforts to ready itself for electric vehicles.

Woelfer's promotion comes as Honda battles to build back lost momentum after suffering one of the industry's tightest inventory supplies. He fills the spot left by Mike Kistemaker following his departure to Ken Garff Automotive.

"Lance is essentially a pure Honda 'product,'" Mamadou Diallo, vice president of auto sales for American Honda Motor Co., told Automotive News. "He is 26 years in and everything he's done so far has prepared him for this moment.

"His entire career has been on the sales side, with a couple of stints in the back office, and we are super excited to have him on board," Diallo added.

After a more than 10-year run managing sales in Honda's mid-Atlantic region out of Maryland, Woelfer returned to California in 2020 to oversee the Honda and…

Lyft Inc. is increasing the service fee its U.S. riders pay directly to the company to cover higher insurance costs, the ride-hailing firm said.

The increase averages less than 50 cents per trip nationally, a Lyft spokesperson said. The company pays for drivers' insurance when they are working on its platform.

"Lyft is facing insurance inflation pressures and we've nominally increased service fees to help offset these costs," the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

New data from YipitData showed Lyft increased its published service fee for rides in virtually all U.S. markets in the first week of October, including around 150 markets expect for New York.

The service fee went up by an average of about 60 cents, implying a 3 percent increase in the cost of an average ride, and an 18 percent increase in the service fee, according to YipitData.

The service fee, which goes directly to Lyft, is an additional fee added on a per-ride basis th…

Telva McGruder says as General Motors’ first chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, she is focused on people — part of CEO Mary Barra’s mission to make GM the most inclusive company in the world.  But for McGruder that’s really nothing new — it’s been her approach during her entire career. “A lot of my growth and my ultimate success has been based on my approach to people — my interest in listening and learning from them and helping them know they brought value to the company,” she says. And that, in turn, may stem from her dad. “My father worked in the auto industry, at a powertrain component factory in the Dayton area, where I grew up,” says McGruder. “He was a hard worker, and really focused on contributing to a quality product. I remember that he was consistently frustrated by people not listening to his ideas. ‘I run this machine, but they don’t ask my opinion,’ he’d say.” After McGruder earned electrical engineering bachelor’s and maste…